Intentions to Marry, 1898 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840413, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 27 2025

1898 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 459

District of Riverton Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar Alexander A. Main

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

509

15 January 1898

Michael Burke
Ellen O'Brien

Michael Burke
Ellen O'Brien
💍 1898/967

Charles Alexander Strange
Ellen O'Brien
💍 1898/3696

Bachelor
Widow

Laborer

25
32

Riverton
Riverton

3 days
8 days

At the Rowan Catholic Church

98/1138

15 January 1898

Rev. W. Walsh

No	509
Date of Notice	15 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Burke	Ellen O'Brien
	💍 1898/967
BDM Match (60%)	Charles Alexander Strange	Ellen O'Brien
	💍 1898/3696
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Laborer
Age	25	32
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	3 days	8 days
Marriage Place	At the Rowan Catholic Church
Folio	98/1138
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Walsh

510

22 January 1898

William Marshall
Mary McInnes

William Marshall
Mary McInnes
💍 1898/965

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
23

Riverton
Riverton

2 years
23 years

At the house of Mr. John McInnes

98/1136

22 January 1898

Rev. Thos. Neave

No	510
Date of Notice	22 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Marshall	Mary McInnes
	💍 1898/965
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr. John McInnes
Folio	98/1136
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Neave

511

5 February 1898

Henry Oswald Dawson
Caroline Eliza Hopgood

Henry Oswald Dawson
Caroline Eliza Hopgood
💍 1898/968

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

25
21

Colac Bay
Colac Bay

5 years
21 years

At the house of Mr. Richard Newton, Colac Bay

98/1139

5 February 1898

Rev. A. Ashcroft

No	511
Date of Notice	5 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Oswald Dawson	Caroline Eliza Hopgood
	💍 1898/968
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Colac Bay	Colac Bay
Length of Residence	5 years	21 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr. Richard Newton, Colac Bay
Folio	98/1139
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Ashcroft

512

21 February 1898

William Watson
Agnes Brown McLean

William Watson
Agnes Brown McLean
💍 1898/969

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
29

Thornbury
Thornbury

3 days
29 years

At the house of Mr. John Brown McLean, Thornbury

98/1140

21 February 1898

Rev. Robert Ewen

No	512
Date of Notice	21 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Watson	Agnes Brown McLean
	💍 1898/969
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	29
Dwelling Place	Thornbury	Thornbury
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr. John Brown McLean, Thornbury
Folio	98/1140
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Ewen

513

28 February 1898

William George Sandilands
Mary Elizabeth Jane Johnston

William George Sandilands
Mary Elizabeth Jane Johnstone
💍 1898/970

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

25
20

Orepuki
Orepuki

2 years
20 years

At the Presbyterian Church, Orepuki

98/1141

Thomas Johnston, Father

28 February 1898

Rev. Wm. White

No	513
Date of Notice	28 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Sandilands	Mary Elizabeth Jane Johnston
BDM Match (98%)	William George Sandilands	Mary Elizabeth Jane Johnstone
	💍 1898/970
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Orepuki	Orepuki
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	At the Presbyterian Church, Orepuki
Folio	98/1141
Consent	Thomas Johnston, Father
Date of Certificate	28 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. White

514

2 March 1898

Joseph Charles Robertson
Alice Bates

Joseph Charles Robertson
Alice Bates
💍 1898/966

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

27
25

Riverton
Riverton

12 years
25 years

At the house of Charlotte Robertson, Riverton

98/1137

2 March 1898

Rev. Thos. Neave

No	514
Date of Notice	2 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Charles Robertson	Alice Bates
	💍 1898/966
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	12 years	25 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Charlotte Robertson, Riverton
Folio	98/1137
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Neave

515

12 March 1898

Montgomery McDowall
Mary Ann Eggelton

Montgomery McDowall
Mary Ann Eggelton
💍 1898/972

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

33
28

Thornbury
Thornbury

3 days
15 years

At the English Church, Thornbury

98/1142

12 March 1898

Rev. W. W. Butterfield

No	515
Date of Notice	12 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Montgomery McDowall	Mary Ann Eggelton
	💍 1898/972
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Thornbury	Thornbury
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	At the English Church, Thornbury
Folio	98/1142
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. Butterfield

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).